A Star in the Night
by WinterSharn
Summary: Starfire has two deep secrets- one is her love for Robin and the other is dark, and foreboding...she only has a little time left before she...
1. PreludeChapter 1

Disclaimer I DO NOT OWN THE TEEN TITANS!!!!!!

Prelude

Starfire couldn't believe her eyes. She was staring at herself from across her bedroom. "How did you get out?" She asked, afraid of the answer.

"Why, Star, that isn't nice. I'm as much of a prisoner as you." The figure across the room stepped out of the shadows and flicked on the light switch. Green hair. Red eyes. White skin. It was the jiiya. No, it was _her_.

Flashback

"_My lord, you have a daughter. She is healthy and strong." The doctor, Galfore, placed the small bundle in the arms of her father. King Daryon'r smiled down at his newest daughter and gently touched her nose. _

"_Welcome to the world, my little star." he said, and the baby stared back at him with eyes that revealed a wisdom beyond their years. _

"_Sire?" The doctor touched the king's shoulder._

"_Yes, Galfore?"_

"_Take care with this child, sire."_

"_Why? Is she blind?" Daryon'r's thoughts flew to his poor eldest. _

"_No." Galfore shifted his daunting frame from foot to foot uneasily. "Sire, she is a jiiya." The king remained calm as he continued to rock his baby daughter slowly. _

"_She can't be." Daryon'r laughed, "The generation gap is too large."_

"_She has the markings, Daryon'r." Galfore dropped the formalities and faced his friend, "She must have been awfully strong- I've never seen the jiiya gene be activated in one so young without it killing the child…or baby."_

"_I see." The king stopped rocking, "I will put her in your charge Galfore. I trust that you will raise her just as well as I."_

"_But…" Galfore nearly dropped the poor babe as his friend shoved her into his arms. _

"_Galfore, please. I cannot…" Daryon'r paused to collect himself, "If the time comes that I shall have to kill her…I want it to be as painless as possible, for both of us. The less contact, the better, she is still my child but perhaps if we are never together as father and daughter…Galfore, I do not believe I will ever be able to kill her…"_

"_Daryon'r… no one has ever fought off their demon side. A half-Tammeranian, half-demon will have so much power inside…they have no choice to succumb to the hunter within them."_

"_We'll hope for the best." King Daryon'r bent to kiss her little girl's cheek, "Oh, my little Starfire…no matter what you become in the future, I will always remember you like this, as my daughter, my baby girl…"_

_End Flashback_

Chapter 1

One Week Earlier

It had started out as a simple twitch, and grown into a series of violent ticks within a few days. The entire team was concerned, to say the least.

"Starfire, we should really get you to a doctor." Robin said. He placed a hand against the alien girl's forehead, "Even if you don't have a fever."

"Robin, I assure you this is nothing. I am perfectly fine. Truly." Starfire's eyes were twitching and blinking so rapidly they had no time to focus. Her muscles were snapping and shuddering so hard that it took all three titan boys hold her down, so she wouldn't topple off her bed.

"Starfire," Raven was calm, logical, as always, but those who knew her well could see she was alarmed, "unless this is another Tammeranian transformation…thing, we need to get you some help. If human doctors can't help then we _will_ take you back to your planet to find someone who can."

"No!" The word flew from Starfire's mouth and shattered on the floor. "No one can help me."

"Star, listen, you're not thinking straight…"

"You aren't being reasonable…"

"I AM BEING REASONABLE!" Star screamed and one of her flailing limbs caught Beast Boy in the face. As the poor green boy flew backwards Raven began to chant, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos." Small tendrils of black energy caught Beast Boy before he slammed into the wall.

"I am so sorry Beast Boy! You should really be fighting the bad men in the city rather then staying here with me. I need to handle this by myself, anyway.'

"We're not going anywhere." Robin bawled his fists. Starfire didn't hear him, her attention was focused inward, and she needed to concentrate.

"I will control you." She snarled, addressing the jerking left arm that had nearly damaged her friend. "You _WILL NOT WIN_!" Twin orbs of emerald crackled and emitted green sparks. All her limbs seemed to freeze, which allowed Beast Boy to regain his hold on her.

"Star?" Robin grabbed the girl's stiff hand. It began to shake as Starfire's eyes turned a gleaming shade of crimson. They seemed to stare straight through everything, they were completely listless. A cackle rose from deep in her throat, reverberating off the walls. Beast Boy and Cyborg both released Starfire in terror but Robin only gripped her hand tighter. "Starfire, what's wrong? Snap out of it!" he shouted. Then, just like that, the laughter stopped. Starfire's eyes flickered to green and her body went limp. She had fallen into a deep, uneasy sleep. Her friends stood over her, puzzled, and sick with worry.

Raven pressed two fingers to her friend's forehead in order to calm the girl's restless tossing. A moment later the psychic drew her hand back with a cry; the fingers wee covered in blood.

"it's not my blood." Raven said as the three boys swarmed around her. The dark girl's gaze fell on Stafire, as she mumbled in her sleep, "It's Starfire's. She's bleeding from her eyes!" And it was true, tears of blood were running down the alien princess's bright red cheeks, and she was moaning in pain.

FLASHBACK (starfire's dreams)

_The creature was much larger then she. It had ugly black spikes, sharper then knives, all over its body, and a long tale covered with them as well. That tail alone could have broken all the bones in her body with one swipe. its eyes were black with red pinpricks in the middle, and its face was more a grotesque mask then a face. It looked slimy, and squashed, only its nose protruded slightly. The ugly thing also had a mouth full of teeth that were nearly as big as the claws on its hands and feet. She could_ **see** _its breath, that's how putrid it was. it billowed toward out toward her hiding place in sickly yellow clouds. She coughed, and it turned in her direction. She held her breath, and it lost interest. It was an Oudx, an animal, a pet of the Arakni. Oudx craved blood. She had no cuts, it couldn't smell her, but the Araknin could. The Arakni were an intelligent race, and strong. Starfire didn't realize one was behind her until it was too late. Luckily, Goldfire, her older sister, was watching out for her. Goldfire was always watching out for her. And it was Goldfire whose body the Araknin ran through with his arm spikes. _She would have died if Goldfire hadn't been there. Goldfire was always looking out for her. Always. until the end of her life. Her short life. Such a short life. And it was short because of her! She was a coward, hiding behind the columns in the great Hall, and under tables, and behind thrones… She was a coward. Ultimate dishonor was hers. She'd let them die, it was all her fault, she knew that. And yet, she still ran. When Goldfire had turned her sunken, dimming eyes toward her to whisper, _"Run" _she had listened. Starfire had fled. She had only looked back once. _She was blinded by tears and ran headlong into a solid wall of Arakni. Somehow she disentangled herself from their twisted claws and backed away. She was sniffling, and they were laughing at her, mocking her pain. They would have pounced on her in an instant had she not been grabbed from behind and lifted into the air. _

_Starfire twisted around and her eyes connected with the light blue-gray irises of her older sister, Rosefire. Rosefire's reassuring smile was strained. She had an unconscious Blackfire draped over one arm, and she was holding Starfire up with her other one. "Brace yourself Star," she said, mouth a thin line of determination, "we are going up and out."_

"_They are following us!" Starfire could only squeak. _

"_Let them. If we can get outside the palace, we can get to an escape pod. The one's in the palace have been destroyed. Hopefully, they have yet to find the cave our father has used to hide a few extra." _

"_The ceiling…"_

"_Do not look down Starfire, close your eyes." Rosefire's eyes glowed silver and she blasted a hole in the ceiling. Starfire held her breath as they sped through smoke and falling debris. Miraculously, they made it, unscathed, and the boundless yellow/pink/blue sky of Tameran rose above them. _

"_Starfire," Rosefire was wheezing slightly. "Can you fly?" She was injured, dark blood was seeping through her clothes._

"_Y-yes."_

"_Then follow me. We _**must **_get to the escape pods- we have to get off this planet. Flying is too slow- they will catch us!" Starfire nodded, but when Rosefire relinquished her hold on her she fell. She plummeted toward the ground unable to remember the joy of flight._

_END FLASHBACK_

SPLASH!!! Starfire sputtered herself to full wakefulness as she spit water out of her mouth, and coughed it out of her lungs.

"What is going on?" Robin? Cyborg?" Starfire choked as she wiped the water from her streaming eyes.

"You're okay, Star." Robin was still holding her hand, but he dropped it when she looked at him. "You were burning up- we couldn't cool you down, or wake you up."

"Look on the bright side, at least the ice water washed out your eyes." Beast Boy said from Starfire's other side. "They were bleeding before. You've been asleep for two days- Raven and Cyborg have gone for a doctor…"

"No." Starfire shook her head, "No doctors. I am not sick."

"Starfire, you're temperature was way above normal, even for a Tameranian." Robin frowned, "Now you're shivering."

"N-no-o, I-m-m n-n-n-ot."

"You're turning blue!" Robin jumped up in alarm. Beast Boy was already at the door.

"Raven said she had some books…" Beast Boy was frantic, "Star, you have to tell me what's happening, do you have a Tammeranian flu or some kind of virus?"

"NO! This is not in her books!" Starfire's teeth banged against each other, they were chattering so loudly she could barely speak. her skin was turning blue and the water dripping down her hair and clothes was turning to ice. She opened her mouth, "R-robin, be-ast B-B-Boy- this I-is g-good. I-I-I am winning." Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she was fast asleep.

_FLASHBACK (starfire's dreams)_

"_Galfore, why do all the other children hate me?"_

"_Princess, what makes you believe they hate you?"_

"_I don't know. … What is a jiiya?" _

"_Now who called you that?" Galfore pulled the distraught six-year-old onto his lap and she cuddled against him. She felt safe in his lap, happy, content._

"_Blackfire told me that that is the reason no one likes me."_

"_Blackfire doesn't know everything." Galfore scratched his long red beard, "I know this is the first year you have been allowed outside the palace…"_

"_it would not be so difficult if Blackfire would leave me alone. She was the one who insisited everyone call me jiiya."_

"_I see." Galfore raised a bushy eyebrow, "You know you must pay her no mind, little one."_

"_I try…" Starfire hung her head._

"_Do not worry princess." Galfore said._

"_My parents do not even speak to me." The statement was blunt. It was smothered in sorrow and tinged in frustration. Galfore knew there was nothing that could be siad to dissuade the truth of the statement. Starfire had the sweetest disposition, she was like a daughter to him, and it broke his heart into pieces to watch her suffer. He hated to watch her cry. _

"_Little Princess," Galfore lifted the girl's tembling chin with his mighty paws, "No matter what happens, stay true to your heart-it is a pure heart- never let anything taint it." The giant's deep voice shook, "And don't you _**EVER **_give up hope."_

_END FLASHBACK_

"That's the last time we were allowed to see him." Starfire opened her eyes. She was looking into a calm, silvery lake at her reflection, and her reflection was speaking. "We had a hard life didn't we?"

"No." Starfire was defiant, "_I _had a hard life-you were the cause."

"Aw, poor baby."

"Listen, you jiiya…"

"Ok, if you are going to insist that we are two different people then call me Nightfire. Stop this 'jiiya' business. I am nothing more then the darker side of you. You being a jiiya has nothing to do with me. Everyone has a dark side-yours is just more pronounced- and you also seem to have an issue accepting your darker side so…I've had to become my own person. Of course, being a jiiya also makes your temptation 100 times harder to resist- and your craving for power and blood…well those are higher too."

"You are evil."

"No. Jiiya are not evil, they have simply lost themselves to temptation. You aren't truly evil until you sell your soul to the devil, now HE is evil."

"You have been trying to possess me again."

"It's happened before. Why are you so shocked?"

"This battle cannot go one forever."

"You're right. Sooner or later I'll win and you will disappear." Nightfire grinned, "Little Star, either embrace the demon within you or it will consume you-nothing can be imprisoned forever."

"But…"

"Fine. You don't want to listen- I'll leave…for now. But don't think we're through."

"Wait!" Starfire reached into the water but Nightfire's reflection was gone.

Please Review-the next chapter should be up soon!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans!

Finally a new chapter guys! Hopefully the next one will be up sooner! Please tell me what you think!

Chapter two

"It's about time you woke up." Starfire squinted in the dark and her nose caught the faintest smell of incense. She was lying among a plethora of pink pillows on her bed. Everything was bathed in the warm glow of fifty levitating candles.

"Raven?"  
"I thought candle light would be easier on you…after your inner battle." Starfire stiffened as Reaven walked toward her holding a candle. "Beast Boy told me what you said, about your sickness not being in any of my books…"

"It is not a sickness…" Starfire's eyes went wide as the dark haired girl stopped right in front of her and lifted the candle until it was a few inches away from her eyes.

"Hold still. I have to be sure." Raven muttered, almost to herself. Then she began to chant in a slow, clear voice, "_Ari Auno Frez Viruju nom. Ari Auno Frez Viruju nom." _As she chanted Raven brought the candle even closer to her friend's eyes, causing Starfire to shut them against the scorching heat. "KEEP THEM OPEN!" Raven snarled as the small flame flickered slightly, and Starfire forced her eyes open out of fright. _"Ari Auno Frez Viruju nom. ARI AUNO FREZ VIRUJU NOM!" _Raven shouted and the candles light suddenly erupted into a small volcanic shower of sparks. The flame grew brighter and brighter until it illuminated the entire room and the two tense faces of the titan girls. At that moment, just for a second, Starfire's eyes flashed blood red and her eyes took on a distinct apple green color. Her face was twisted into a million different expressions at once, as if she couldn't quite decide how she wanted to rearrange her features. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the demonic face that had peered into Raven's soul disappeared and the candle's flame blew out. For a minute both girls just sat as still as statues, trying to return their breathing to normal. It was Raven, who spoke first,

" So…" Shadows danced eerily across the demon girl's face as the rest of the candles shuddered violently, "When did you plan to tell us you're a jiiya?"

"Um…"

"I'm half-demon." Raven sounded sad, "I could have helped you. Although, I'm surprised you lasted so long without a full frontal attack. Meditation used to help me…with my father…have you been meditating? Usually jiiya do not last past their eighth birthdays."

"Actually," Starfire met her friend's eyes nervously, "I've had several attacks, but I was able to overthrow them within a few days or even hours. This one is different…"

"Different? Starfire, there is only one attack, it starts in early childhood and doesn't cease until your human…er…Tammeranian side is completely destroyed. You should be dead. The Awakening only happens once- Attack on the Body is first, then the mind, then the spirit…soul…whatever you want to call it. It always happens the same way in every case… Unless, perhaps, your jiiya Awakening has been going on for ten years…" Raven shook her head, "But that's impossible. You would have to be dead."

"My father…" Starfire chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully and gently touched the small of her back, beneath her uniform. "He...he once took me to a sealer. She did something to my back that she said would slow the 'poison' that would soon spread through my veins."

"Can I see it?" Raven moved closer as Starfire turned around and pulled her uniform down to reveal a tattoo of two roses, one black surrounded in bloody, crimson colored flames and the other was silver surrounded in bright, icy blue flames. Scrutinizing the markings around the flowers Raven translated for her friend, _"Evil Is Not Welcome Here. _It's a very old technique traditionally used in order to override curses or protect against possession. _Very _old." Raven ran a pale finger over the tattoo, "Seals against demons don't hold forever…my guess is that your jiiya side is finally breaking through the seal. Perhaps…if you could get this re-sealed…" Raven tapped a finger against her chin, "Do you know the sealers name?"

"No…"

"Can we ask Galfore?"

"He wouldn't know."

"How about Blackfire?"

"No. She has no idea I went to a sealer. The only ones who would know are dead…my father, my mother, Goldfire, Rosefire, Sunfire, Bluefire…" Tears were running down the young Tammeranian's cheeks. "You only ever knew Blackfire…the rest of my family perished ten years ago."

"You never even told us you had other siblings!"

"I- I didn't want to remember. But now…"

"All the memories you've repressed are bubbling to the surface?" Raven rested a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder, "I know what it's like to be afraid of your own mind. But you'll get through this, I will find you another sealer."

"Thank you." Starfire brushed her tears away, "Does anyone else know I'm…"

"Yes." Raven sighed, "I felt, that as your very best friends they had a right to know…I'm sorry if that wasn't what you wanted but…we all care about you Starfire, you should let us help you…in any way we can."

"You're telling us there's nothing we can do?" Robin slammed his fists onto the table, "We can't just sit around while Star fights by herself!" The titans minus Starfire were sitting around their kitchen table discussing the Tammeranian princess.

"I'm not saying we do nothing." Raven pulled her hood up, "I'm saying we need to leave her be and concentrate on tracking down a sealer. If her tattoo fades away completely…she's done for."

"What's a sealer?" Beast Boy and Cyborg asked in unison.

"Someone who specifies in preventing demonic or any kind of possession and/or delaying the effects of curses. They are generally immortal, it would take more then fifty lifetimes to master the art of sealing completely." Raven picked up the ancient text she'd been reading and stood up, "I'm going to meditate."

"But…"

"Robin, the best thing you can do for her is let her be." Raven looked at Beast Boy, "Make sure he doesn't disturb her, she doesn't need anymore emotional turmoil or she just might crack."

"yes, Captain." The green boy saluted as Raven rolled her eyes and turned to the half-man, half-robot,

"On second thought, you watch him."

"WHY CAN'T WE SEE HER?"

"Because, she needs to meditate, and remain calm and…Starfire you know you should be in bed." All four heads turned to regard the haggard looking princess standing before them.

"Star, you should be in bed…" Robin was immediately at her side. "You need rest."

"Starfire," Raven's voice was full of concern and she was frowning slightly, "If you do not meditate now, you'll only speed things up. You need your mind to remain blank.."

"I…" Starfire looked at her feet, "I've been feeling left out. Promise…you will not replace me yet?" The Tammeranian looked like she was about to cry, and her hands were shaking again.

"Star…" Robin gently intertwined their fingers, "No one is going to replace you, no one could ever take your place." Both teens blushed as they remembered they weren't alone as Cyborg yelled out,

"Hell yeah!" Making the princess smile weakly before offering,

"Perhaps a temporary replacement could be arranged."

"No!" The response was simultaneous from all the titans.

"Friends…I appreciate your support…" Starfire's legs began shaking, "…but you must face the facts…you need…a…" Starfire placed a hand against her head and groaned before stumbling forward. Robin steadied her but she brushed his hand away, "I am fine." The princess straightened up and smiled, "You need a fifth member." Then she lurched forward, unconscious before she hit the ground.

_"Stop doing that!" Starfire was staring at her reflection again. Nightfire was laughing. "I mean it!"_

_"And what will you do if I don't? Kill me? HA! You, my darling, are a fool."_

_"What do you want?"_

_"No need to get so testy- is it my fault that when I need to speak with you, you must be unconscious or in deep, deep meditation?" _

_"What. Do. You. Want?"_

_"I want you to accept me. I'm a part of you, like it or not."_

_"Never!"_

_"Try forever." Nightfire's red eyes narrowed, "Things will only get worse…you can't beat me."_

_"I will." Starfire glared, "You will never…"_

_"Never what? I already have more control then you do- why else do you think I can initiate a black out and you can do nothing to stop it? I can pull memories, repressed or not, from the darkest, dustiest contours of your mind and you can't stop me! Sweetie, you've managed to put off the Awakening for ten long years- this should have been over with when you were eight-but you just HAD TO BE DIFFICULT DIDN'T YOU? HAD TO RESIST WHAT IS INEVITABLY GOING TO COME TO PASS! YOUR FATHER KNEW THAT SEAL WAS JUST TEMPORARY AND SO DID YOU! HA! YOU FAKED INNOCENCE WITH RAVEN SO SHE WOULDN'T FIND OUT HOW BADLY YOU SCREWED UP TAKING THAT SEAL FOR GRANTED!" Nightfire's eyes were like two burning coals, the water in the lake was beginning to boil. All Starfire could do was watch, terrified, as the jiiya raged at her. "AND JUST LOOK AT YOU! SO WEAK! YOU'RE PETRIFIED AREN'T YOU?" Nightfire paused, "You've never trembled before." Starfire was speechless so her dark self continued, "You're shaking in your boots! HAHA! I told you it was only a matter of time, I'd wear you out before you'd get rid of me! Hahaha, I can't stop laughing…"Nightfire laughed uproariously, "Oh, little Star, soon you'll be too far away to wish upon and nothing will stop me from finally taking what has been denied me for ten years! You're finally cracking! HAHAHA!" And with one last laugh Nightfire splashed her opposite and everything went black._

Starfire didn't want to open her eyes. She was more scared then she had ever been in her entire life. Never had she been so petrified of her own mind, and her own body. Nightfire was right. She was weakening. She was scared. Fear was seeping in, like fog over the ground. She had always known in the back of her mind that Nightfire was gaining control, but she'd never lost her nerve. She'd always run away from her demons, but at least she'd been able to look them in the eye and put up a protective shield. Now her defenses were dissolving around her and she felt like the small, cowardly child she'd been in her youth. She didn't know what to do, or what was happening to her. Memories long since buried were floating freely around her mind…her thoughts were so conflicted and twisted. She needed help but the only person she could think to turn to was dead. Everyone was dead. She was the only survivor…and she was the least deserving. Somewhere in the corner of her consciousness she heard her friends calling her. She still didn't open her eyes. She was drifting along a quiet, peaceful river, and it felt nice. It felt like she was fading away, becoming one with the tranquility around her. She felt safe. She could open her eyes at any time…she just didn't want to.

"She's not breathing!" There was mass chaos everywhere. Starfire was being rushed from hospital to hospital as one hundred different doctors and nurses tried in vain to revitalize her.

"No, I've got a faint pulse!" One doctor checked the machines the alien was wired to, they were going haywire, but he didn't need them. "We've got a pulse!" He gave a thumbs up to the crowd of teenagers swarming on the other side of the glass. "She's gone into a coma."

_With every repressed memory she unleashes into my consciousness I fall more under her spell. With every attack my fear grows, and I can feel it devouring my flesh piece by piece like a virus that can't be stopped. _Starfire was lying on her bed like a listless, rag doll. She now lacked the energy or will to even open her shades and let the sunlight filter into her drab room. Everything appeared to be devoid of color, as if her eyes were seeing in shades of gray. She'd been lucky, the doctors said, only to be in a coma for a few days. Even so, alien or not, they said, she should rest. Rest. That's all she did for the three straight days she was in a coma- she was sick of resting! But they had forced her into bed, even Robin. It didn't matter though, she was fighting a loosing battle now. Nightfire knew her weaknesses, the things that would make her crack. _How does one fight an enemy, when that enemy is oneself? _Starfire wondered.

TBC

hey guys, please review!!!!! Reviews are what remind me to keep writing this story so even if you just comment to say, "Keep going" it's nice to get reviews! Plus, if I don't get reviews I end up never finishing stories

 Thanks to all of you who did review!!!


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